Asus Will Ship Most Eee PCs With XP

The Eee 701 has been an incredibly successful budget subnotebook for manufacturer Asus. It’s done very well equipped with Xandros Linux as its operating system. So why will Asus shortly be offering Windows XP as an option on the 701, and producing a new model, the 900, with both options, especially as the XP version is likely to cost more, due to the cost of the license?

 

The answer seems to be in demand. Jerry Shen, the chief executive for Asus, told Laptop magazine recently that "most [customers] are demanding a form of Windows, but others appreciate... Linux.”

 

Of course, the majority of computer users simply aren’t familiar with Linux and want to stick with a tried and true OS. And getting Windows on a low-cost model like the Eee pushes Microsoft into a much bigger market, as the Redmond giant speculated to Reuters. However, bringing Windows on board doesn’t mean that Asus necessarily has to like. A company spokesman told ZdNet,

 

"We feel Linux has an advantage over something like Windows XP. The only knowledge that it requires is perhaps the knowledge of a mobile interface."